Managerless Sheffield Wednesday take on Blackpool on Sunday.

The return of an in-form and properly serviced number nine would be a welcome gift to Sheffield Wednesday’s new manager as caretaker boss Matt Hamshaw continues his steering of the club following the exit of Henrik Pedersen.

The Owls welcome struggling Blackpool to Hillsborough on Saturday with a win top of the wishlist amid home form that has seen two rampant wins arrive among four sleepier attacking efforts that have garnered just one goal. The continuation of a brighter showing from line-leading forward Mason Burstow in Tuesday evening’s draw with Cambridge United could prove a vital improvement, with Wednesday having gone a little more direct in their approach.

Burstow has shared duties up top with the likes of Jamal Lowe, Ali Al-Hamadi and one one occasion Davis Keillor-Dunn this season. Not long since left out of back-to-back matchday squads as the spare of six loanees, the Hull City forward scored his second goal of the season against the U’s with a confident finish and caused problems for the visiting defence throughout.

Speaking to The Star ahead of the Blackpool visit, Hamshaw revealed that Burstow had been battling a minor injury in recent weeks and made clear his hope that he could recover form that saw him score 12 goals and play an important role for a Bolton Wanderers side that was promoted from League One last season.

“It probably might not be known, but Mason was carrying a bit of a niggle for a few weeks - and I think you saw that,” Hamshaw said. “He's obviously been left out kind of for that reason. And I think the other night, he looked a bit more like himself, a bit more like what we saw last year.

“Obviously, that got him out of this division with another club. So, that's the Mason we want to see. He took his goal really well and I thought as soon as that goal went in, you could see the confidence grow. And that's all strikers, that's what you need. They need goals. And let's hope Mason can get another one on Sunday.”

As a former Wednesday player who won promotion with the club in 2005, Hamshaw knows all about what’s required to bring supporters along at Hillsborough and reflecting on Tuesday night’s performance in possession reiterated the need to get the ball moving quicker and earlier. The movement and ball retention of their leading man will naturally play a part in that.

“I felt we started off way too slow, we were too passive,” he said. “We needed to move the ball quicker. I think then for that half an hour period after that, we looked like we were creative, we looked like we had a bit of enthusiasm. Playing forward quicker, playing through lines, people getting at people. And that's what we want to see, we want to see that.

“Second half thought it would come out exactly as it did. On the front foot, unlucky probably to not score the second. And we got done on a counter-attack but we should be better at stopping. So there things that obviously I've shown the players about how we're learning and how we can improve. But the more important bit really is to make sure that in the start of the games, we're more on the front foot and we're making teams defend.”